Sumo wrestling, one of Japan s oldest and most hallowed sports, is known for its large fighters. Many believe that those wrestlers adopt unhealthy diets that increased their weights, but the reality is that the sport requires the wrestlers to gain much weight and undergo intensive exercises so that they can play the game. The Japanese do not see sumo as a mere sport. Sumo was first mentioned in one of the holy books of Shinto, called the Kojiki or Records of Ancient Matters (AD712). It is the oldest religious book in Japanese history.

Egyptian record-breaking winger Mohamed Salah has been named in the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Premier League Team of the Year for 2018 for his thrilling season at Liverpool. Salah has been named in the frontline of the season squad alongside with Tottenham Hotspur s Harry Kane and Manchester City s Sergio Aguero; the trio are currently competing for the Golden Boot - the accolade awarded each season to the Premier League s top scorer.

Schalke and Dortmund are gearing up for a potentially pivotal Ruhr Derby on Sunday. Schalke are only a point clear of their rivals, and with November s 4-4 still fresh in the memory, hopes are high for another classic.The Bundesliga has come under a lot of scrutiny this season. Fears over a lack of competition, the implementation of an imperfect technology, a concerningly poor showing by their clubs in Europe — there are causes for concern across German football. One of the silver linings though, has always been its football rivalries and on Matchday 30 the country s greatest will deliver it s latest edition. Borussia Dortmund against Schalke is the Bundesliga s most complete fixture. A real rivalry between two teams from two cities separated by just 30 kilometers, both in the heart of Germany s industrial Ruhr region, supported by two sets of ferociously passionate fans. While neither side would ever admit it, it s like two siblings have a biannual fight.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah says helping the team win the Champions League is more important than any individual award he could receive this season. The Egyptian reached the 40-goal mark across all competitions this season in Liverpool s 3-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth on Saturday and is leading the race for the European Golden Shoe after an impressive campaign.

The injury of Zamalek keeper Ahmed El-Shennawi comes as a huge blow for Egypt coach Hector Cuper who relies on him as a key figure for the Pharaohs. The 26-year old sustained a knee injury last week and will likely miss next summer s World Cup.

Juventus were left with what Gazzetta dello Sport described as a mixture of pride and anger after their extraordinary Champions League comeback against Real Madrid was thwarted by a contentious injury-time penalty. Having overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit at Real s Bernabeu stadium on Wednesday, Juve were cruelly knocked out by a soft penalty converted by Cristiano Ronaldo in stoppage time of the quarter-final second leg.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been charged with improper conduct after being sent to the stands in Tuesday s 2-1 Champions League defeat by Liverpool, UEFA said on Wednesday. Guardiola protested about forward Leroy Sane s disallowed goal at the end of the first half in the quarter-final second leg and was dismissed by referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane was at a loss to explain why his side s disappointing La Liga campaign contrasts with their dominant displays in the Champions League ahead of their quarter-final second leg against Juventus on Wednesday. Real slipped down to fourth in the Liga standings and 15 points behind leaders Barcelona following Sunday s draw with Atletico Madrid. However, they are on course to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for an eighth successive season as they enjoy a 3-0 lead in their tie with Juve.

Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said he is not sure whether Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah will have recovered from his recent injury in time for Tuesday s Champions League clash against Manchester City. The 25-year old winger – who has won the PFA Player of the Month for the fourth time this season – sustained an injury on Wednesday during the first leg of the quarter finals and has missed training since then.

Despite the superb performance of Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo during this week s Champion League game, Egypt and Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah trounced the Portuguese star to win the UEFA player of the week in a live poll on the UEFA official website. The 25-year-old winger won 57 percent of the votes, after scoring and assisting in a goal as well as producing a superb performance in Liverpool s 3-0 win over English Premier League leaders Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo was described as a different species and even earned praise from basketball great LeBron James after his jaw-dropping bicycle kick in Real Madrid s 3-0 win at Juventus which likely sealed their place in the Champions League semi-finals. "What planet did you come from?," asked the front cover of daily AS on Wednesday as it depicted Ronaldo s awesome strike, his second goal of the night which proved a knockout blow to Juventus just as they were gaining in confidence in the second half.

With doubts about Lionel Messi s fitness, Barcelona will host Roma in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Wednesday. Messi is expected to play in the first leg at Camp Nou, but he hasn t started in three consecutive matches because of a leg muscle problem and it remains uncertain if he can play at full strength for 90 minutes.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp is not about to change his team s trademark style against Champions League quarter-final opponents Manchester City and believes he can make things "unpleasant" for Pep Guardiola s side. City s dominance in the Premier League has led many teams to try different methods to limit the effectiveness of Pep Guardiola s tactics and the skill of his players.

Tottenham Hotspur ended 28 years of hurt and took a massive stride in the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League as Dele Alli struck twice in a 3-1 victory at Chelsea on Sunday. Not since Gary Lineker scored the winning goal in 1990 had Tottenham taken three points home from Stamford Bridge and in 2016 their title hopes were ended by the Blues in a rumbustious draw dubbed the Battle of the Bridge .

Egyptian national team assistant coach Osama Nabih has said that three new players will be tested during the Kuwait friendly game in May, one month ahead of the start of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. "There will always be surprises. We are monitoring three players in the Egyptian Premier League and they could be called up," Nabih told a radio station Thursday morning.

Ahmed El-Sheikh marked his debut with a goal and Mahmoud Kahraba and Mohamed Elneny were also on target as Egypt strolled to a 3-0 friendly win over Togo on Tuesday in their first match since finishing as runners-up at the African Nations Cup last month.

Just hours after a controversial four-match ban for star attacker Leo Messi, Argentina have lost 2-0 against Bolivia in La Paz. Were they missing the Barcelona star, or simply struggling with the altitude?Juan Carlos Arce and Marcelo Martins Moreno netted for the home team either side of half time on Tuesday, securing Bolivia a big scalp in their World Cup qualification campaign.

Egypt coach Hector Cuper said on Tuesday he is satisfied with his side s training camp in Switzerland despite two losses, saying the friendly games were important to test new players. The Pharaohs slumped to a 1-0 loss to Greece on Tuesday, four days after throwing away their lead to suffer a 2-1 defeat by European champions Portugal after conceding two goals in stoppage time.

Egypt s coach Hector Cuper is expected to test new players in his squad when the Pharaohs face Greece on Tuesday in the second friendly match of the current training camp in Zurich amid preparations for the World Cup. The Egyptians still have bad memories from their last encounter against Greece, having lost 6-1 in a humilating match back in 1990. Cuper s men are not driven by revenge, but instead are concerned with improving their performance ahead of the World Cup.

Following their strong performance against Portugal in Friday s friendly ahead of the 2018 World Cup, Egypt coach Hector Cuper said the Pharaohs are ready to face any of the heavyweight teams they may encounter in the gigantic competition. A delightful goal from Mohamed Salah put Egypt on the verge of a famous friendly win over European champions Portugal, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to head home twice during stoppage time, one with the help of video replay.

Egyptian Sports Minister Khaled Abdel-Aziz has said on Saturday that Cairo is in talks to obtain the broadcast rights of at least 24 World Cup matches for Egyptian television. When asked during an interview with Egyptian TV channel ON E if Egypt would let local viewers watch the World Cup on Israeli channels like in 2014, Abdel-Aziz replied: "Egypt will also broadcast at least 24 matches of the competition."